Tsugumori
"This Garde, once piloted by the Sidonian hero... it is my dream to one day pilot this, and to protect Sidonia from danger." "It is nice, to have a dream." Norio Kunato and Shizuka Hoshijiro Type 17 Garde Shiratsuki Remodeled Ver. ''Tsugumori'' (一七式衛人 白月改 継衛 Ichinana-shiki Morito Shiratsuki-kai Tsugumori) is the revered and battle-hardened Garde mech which Nagate Tanikaze pilots. Tsugumori is a rarity during the time in which the story takes place. Despite Type 18 Gardes becoming the norm at the story's start, Tsugumori is not considered obsolete. Unlike the Type 18, Tsugumori does not have an autopilot system, making it more demanding for the pilot. History The Tsugumori was originally piloted by Hiroki Saitou. While being piloted by him, it killed two Gauna that had boarded the ''Sidonia'' by destroying their cores with a kabizashi, narrowly saving the ship, which had sustained staggering 99% loss of life in mere minutes. Before the story began the Tsugumori stood as a monument behind a walkway for people to look at. However, once Kobayashi found the need to give Nagate a model he was used to, she had Sasaki fix it up for operations. The Tsugumori has killed more Gauna than any other Garde unit. Armaments Even on a mining operation, such as the one Nagate attended when Gauna 487 attacked, Garde mechs come heavily armed with a wide array of weapons to combat the Gauna threat. Hyggs Particle Cannon Fires a concentrated beam of Hyggs particles to disintegrate Gauna's placenta, thus exposing the core for a kabizashi. This weapon has no recoil and excellent range, but drains the Garde's Hyggs reserves. The Garde's head serves as the firing port. High Vibration Blade A set of metal blades edged with pure energy, capable of easily slicing through a Gauna's primary weapon, the tentacles. Each arm of the Garde has an HVB. The primary use for the weapon is to fend off incoming Gauna tentacle attacks. Gatling Gun A slug-firing cannon with multiple barrels. The gatling has a very high fire rate, using up ammunition with surprising speed. While having some recoil, the slugs cause high damage to Gauna's placenta, and can be fired from point blank to medium range with great effect. It seems to be mounted on the left arm, and comes loaded with 6,000 rounds. Eishin Sakuretsudan (鋭針炸裂弾) or Guided missiles When fired they fly to the target, sink into Gauna's placenta, and then explode. Nagate used two missiles on Gauna 487's "face" when it took Eiko Yamano's form. Norio then used two more to cover Nagate's retreat from the same Gauna. Hyggs Particle Collecting System Tsugumori equipped with a Particle Hyggs Collecting System. With this, Tsugumori can recharge its energy emergency, in time and anywhere. If viewed from its shape, this Armament formed from hundreds of fused hexagonal shape resembling a pair of transparent wings. Not yet known how it works, whether to change the heat energy of the nearest star and turn it into particles, like solar panels or catch the free particles in the surrounding areas like a net. Unfortunately, this Armament almost completely useless, repeated charging power is very low, even in 11 days, this Armament can not fill a tenth of the garde fuel tank. Armaments Capable of Killing the Gauna So far only two weapons can actually kill Gauna, and both make use of the mysterious kabi elements to penetrate a Gauna's core, thus killing the whole creature. Kabizashi Like all Gardes, the Tsugumori's hand can grasp the handle of a kabizashi spear. Ballistic Acceleration Device A high-powered railgun designed to fire the combined kabi/heavy mass rounds. This weapon was a prototype made by Toha Heavy Industries, but Nagate claims to have used one in his simulations. This weapon allows Gardes to attack and destroy Gauna at a safe distance with incredible accuracy, like a sniper rifle. However, the weapon has immense kick, so much that it can throw the pilot off the course, and gives a loud "bang" like a rifle. Image Gallery RIOBOT_Tsugumori.jpg|RIOBOT Tsugumori figure Kotobukiya_Tsugumori.jpg|Kotobukiya Tsugumori model kit. Kotobukiya_Tsugumori_Box.jpg|Kotobukiya Tsugumori box art Plastic model Tsugumori Nihei.jpg|Plastic model Tsugumori assembled by Tsutomu Nihei Notes & Trivia *The two kanji for Tsugumori (継衛) mean "succession" and "protection" respectively. Articles & References Links Category:Technology